Senior Kendrick Hardy is one of several veteran running backs returning for Southern Miss, which is starting over this spring under its third coach, Todd Monken, in as many years.

Written by

Tim Doherty
Hattiesburg American

There's a tale told of legendary coach Vince Lombardi gathering his Green Bay Packers around him, and extending his arm, intoning, "Gentlemen, this is a football."

The back end of the story has Max McGee, the Packers rapscallion of a receiver, piping up and saying, "Coach, could you slow it down. You're going too fast for us."

Southern Miss football may not be quite that basic, but with a different staff in place for a third consecutive spring, the emphasis will be on learning before getting into any sort of pad-popping. ...